Located in the south-central part of the main Okinawa island, Ginowan has a park located on higher ground that was the site of fierce fighting during the Battle of Okinawa.

The park offers a clear view of the Osprey transport aircraft lined up in the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

The base is located amid a densely populated residential area and in 2003 when he flew over it, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it was a wonder that an accident did not occur there.

Nothing has changed about the site in the interim.

April 12 marks the 30th anniversary of an agreement between Japan and the United States to return all of the Futenma base.

After a young Okinawa schoolgirl was raped by three U.S. servicemen, the Okinawa people who had long suffered from a concentration of U.S. bases in their prefecture raised their voices in anger.

Fearing a major shakeup in the Japan-U.S. security treaty framework, the two governments put together........

© The Asahi Shimbun